Kolkata Knight Riders rope in Aarya Desai for remainder of the IPL 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders have roped in Aarya Desai at his base price of 20 Lakhs.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have roped in Gujarat opener Aarya Desai for INR 20 lakhs for the remainder of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2023). The announcement was made via media release by the IPL on April 14, 2023.

The statement did not divulge who he replaced in the team. However, as earlier reported, KKR are without the services of Shakib Al Hasan, who had missed the tournament citing international assignments and personal commitments.

The 20-year-old Desai made his first-class debut in January and is yet to play List A or T20 cricket for his state team.

“Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) On Friday Brought Aarya Desai On Board For The Remainder Of The TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Desai Represents Gujarat In Domestic Cricket, Has Played 3 First-Class Matches And Has 151 Runs Against His Name. He Joins KKR For INR 20 Lakh,” IPL statement read.

KKR will also miss the services of their captain Shreyas Iyer, who is dealing with a back injury at the moment and is slated to undergo surgery to correct the issue of bulging disc and nerve damage. Though Iyer will miss the IPL 2023 and the ICC World Test Championship Final in Oval, he hopes to be fit in time for the ODI World Cup 2023 which will begin in India on October 5.

Kolkata Knight Riders win the toss and opt to bowl against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens

Meanwhile, in the 19th match of the IPL 2023, KKR hosted SRH in their own home of Eden Gardens in Kolkata on April 14, 2023. KKR captain Nitish Rana won the toss and chose to bowl first, going in with an unchanged team.

SRH, on the other hand, brought in Abhishek Sharma for Washington Sundar.

KKR started well with Andre Russell getting the wickets of Mayank Agarwal for 9 runs and then accounted for the dangerous Rahul Tripathi who made 9 runs as well, hitting two boundaries, in his first over itself.

Despite losing two early wickets, Harry Brook finally showed why he got such a huge amount in the IPL 2023 auction, scoring his maiden IPL fifty in 32 balls, while captain Aiden Markram reached the mark in just 25 balls, hitting 5 sixes and 2 fours.